GirlChat #601207
I'm afraid that I'm something of a Manga snob.
The first thing I do is a very quick visual scan in the bookstore; riffling the pages ( "back" to "front" natch, ) to see if the graphics are cluttered or legible. Manga are much more visual and less wordy than B.D. or Comix; and are mostly the work of one author. So if that author cannot handle the visuals, chances are they can't do anything with the text either. While I do find some recent work quite appealing, I'm also not put off by the stylings of less contemporary mangaka, and I recognize the learning curve. So I still tend to prefer the work of folks who've been doing this for 30 years rather than 3. I think that Emma was the most contemporary a manga I've bought in a while. My favorite Mangaka are rarely translated; folks like Adachi Mitsuru ( Touch, Short Program, H2, Niji Iro Togarashi &tc, ) Hirokane Kenshi ( Division Chief Kosaku Shima, ) Shirato Sampei ( The Legend of Kamui,) and Hagio Moto ( They Were 11 and The Heart of Thomas. ) Even among the untranslated I prefer an almost more blunt simpler graphic handled by a longtimer over the flourishes of a younger cartoonist. Artists like Ishiwata Osamu ( B.B. and Love. ) In that regard I side with oldtime Captain Marvel artist C.C. Beck when he criticized the hip new cartoonist of the early '70s by stating that the art should serve the storytelling without calling attention to itself. Not to say I'm not constantly looking. But I'm an old school comix nerd so cute manga girls are not the sole reason I read. But for the manga girls I like many of the series from Comic Afternoon with its Oh! My Goddess and lesser known serials such as Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō and Yume Tsukai. Dante |